You know that a turning point of sorts has been reached when the Palestinian Authority has a more enlightened approach to education than the state of Israel.

The final edition of [“Learning the Historical Narrative of the Other”], which was published last year, offers both the Israeli and Palestinian historical narratives of the Middle East conflict while also allowing for students to note their thoughts on the material. The book covers the early stages of the Zionist movement all the way through to the past decade. It has been published in English, Arabic, and Hebrew.

The book has been banned for use in Israel—unread and unseen by the people who banned it:

Israeli officials said that the Education Ministry’s order to discontinue the use of the textbook was issued without any official vetting of the book’s contents or the supplementary coursework. It was only after the project garnered media attention that the ministry’s pedagogic secretariat, Zvi Zameret, asked to see the textbook.

A school principal who used the book is being hauled in by the Israeli Education Ministry for a talking-to:

Aharon Rothstein, the head of the Sha’ar Hanegev high school, may be reprimanded for allowing students to reference [the book]…

“Unfortunately, the Palestinians are further along than the Israeli Education Ministry when it comes to acknowledging the other side of the conflict,” said an official involved in administering the textbook in the Sha’ar Hanegev school. “While [the Palestinians] approved the project, here they are summoning the principal for clarifications. This is a highly embarrassing situation.”

Indeed so.

[H/t Dalia Hatuqa]